Unit+9+-+The+50s+and+60s;+Illusions+of+American+Omnipotence

=1955-1980=

__Map List__ (loosely organized)
• J.A.Delaine; SC • Brown vs. Board of Education; Topeka, KS • Mose Wright; Mosey, MS • Freedom Summer; MS • Rosa Parks; Montgomery, AL • Fred Shuttlesworth; Birmingham, AL • Bull Connor; Birmingham, AL • Freedom Rides; AL (mostly) • Selma; AL • Central High; Little Rock, AK • Greensboro Sit-ins; Greensboro, NC • March on Washington; Washington DC • Bay of Pigs; Cuba (South of FL) • Cuban Missile Crisis; Cuba (South of FL) • SDS; MI • Port Huron Statement; MI • Watergate; Washington, DC • Kent State; Ohio

J.A. DeLaine (may not be on test)
- a Reverend in South Carolina - mixed school gets 30 new buses, all for white kids - parents of black kids going to the school ask for one old bus so that their kids can have a bus route - flatly refused; they go to J.A.DeLaine, others, to get help/try and convince - J.A.Delaine fired from teaching job (as well as pretty much anyone who knew him), house burned, harassed, and eventually run out of town - in trouble for "attacking" people, shooting at people who were burning his church down and chasing him off ^ one of the five cases collected w/ BvB; overturning of Plessy vs. Ferguson

Brown vs. Board of Education (may not be on test)
- in Topeka, KS - black girl ("Brown") had to go to black school across RR tracks, far away; 3 blocks away, a white school - parents ask white school to let girl attend; "NO" - goes to Supreme court w/ collective of other cases (ex. SC Rev. J.A.Delaine) - interesting evidence given; psychological effect of racism, segregation, on black children; admitted into court - Truman - "must be unanimous, else will split country" - *New, more liberal, chief justice - Warren Berger ^ overturns Plessy vs. Ferguson, "separate but equal"

Mose Wright
- Mosey, MS - uncle of Emmett Till (see unit 8) - testified in court against the murderers (signed his own death sentence) ^ defied expectations of no blacks testifying in white-dom. MS; shows progression of civil rights ideas

Rosa Parks
- Montgomery Bus Boycott, etc.; Montgomery, AL - in light if Emmett Till; only a few months afterward - some time before the Rosa Parks incident, another bl. woman, Claudette Colvin: sitting in front of bus (okay, so long as she moved when the bus started filling up) -> whites get on board -> refused to move to the back of the bus -> fought and cursed when forced; arrested - Bus Boycott didn't start then b/c Claudette wasn't the person they could back; not respectable, uneducated, etc. - ex. E.D.Nixon, mover and shaker, part of the group that'd forced FDR to desegregate; well-known (too much, as he had enemies); civil rights strategist, knew that they couldn't go anywhere with Claudette as their "cause" - Rosa Parks incident; could back, educated, quiet, resp. seamstress; when she calls her husband about what'd happened, he freaks, afraid she'd get lynched - E.D.N. gets ball rolling, but "need boycott and leader, but not me; too well-known/hated by whites) - go to well-est. baptist church, find minister, educated at Boston, Martin Luther King - reluctant @ first to be leader, just wanted to be a preacher, but picks up b/c "God hates injustice" -> appointed prez. of Montgomery Improvement Association -> bus boycott, over a year - hurts bus companies, businesses (blacks can't go downtown to buy stuff), whites who have blacks as labor (rich who have black maids and such); blacks help each other out, carpools, etc. meetings; religiously-based, met in churches and encourages each other, "we're doing god's will" - successful- in end, bus companies desegregate buses, + whole time the bl. were resp. and non-violent, even when violence, they acted non-violently; King's philosophy based off the bible, Ghandi: Satgagraha, "if you refuse to respond to evil in evil ways, it will bounce back; if you respond in evil was, you get sucked in." (I'm rubber you're glue wtf?) "turn the other cheek" ^ a drop in the bucket, but helps to power movement - "it IS possible" - gives hope

Fred Shuttlesworth
- let's just start off by saying this guy was kickass. Seriously. - Birmingham, AL; headed by Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, baptist preacher who was convinced that god had called him to civil rights and would protect him -> willing to do extremely brave, outrageous things - ex. he plus wife, white preacher, go down into town, use the wrong bathrooms -> get beat up -Alabama human movement for human rights; demanding equal employment opportunities - during Montgomery bus boycott, he + other ministers met in house, arrested for vagrancy by Theopholis Eugene Connor ("Bull" Connor) - was b/c Bull knew he'd get up to something; had been planning on a bus boycott start after Christmas -> day of, house blown up by KKK - not too uncommon for him - death threats, etc, "bombingham" -> crawls out of wreckage alive; had been in bed, explode -> bed flew up, flipped over, landed on him and house landed on the bed -> protected - >"proof" of god protecting him (if that isn't, what is?) -> a man saw him crawl out and told him he should get out of town for his own good, Shuttlesworth responds " wasn't born to run away." - real sense of god on side ('till point of being accused of "Christian fanaticism), keeps bouncing back after beatings ^ sense of "we'll lose some battles, but we'll win the war" - amazing, from ppl. who've always been losing

Central High, Little Rock
- Little Rock, AK, 1957 - even though Supreme court decision to desegregate schools 3 years ago, no actual movement/reinforcement - civil rights movement leaders decide it's time, push to get 9 black resp. kids enrolled in all-white Central High - first day, met w/ howling mobs, new + media - national news - @ first, mobs deter, but eventually go to school -> they try to shut down the schools -> Eisenhower decides this is an attack on the Fed. gov (it is, violating Supreme Court decision) -> sends paratroopers in to patrol hallways, make sure kids kept safe - next yr., all schools in Little Rock shut down... ^ Fed. gov. forced to enforce own laws [Eisenhower P.O.'d by Orbal Faulbis, AK gov'ner] -> now committed to enforcing own rules to some extent ^ now, not only religiously-based, but also Fed. gov. help

Greensboro Sit-Ins
- 1960, University of Greensboro at North Carolina, group of bl. colelge students discussing civil rights, decide to go down to local Woolwoth's, soda fountain (white only), order food - protest of sorts - next day, dress in suits + ties (nicely, respectably), go down to Woolworth's all hell "breaks loose"... whites outraged but cautious, initially unwilling to get too close, eventually get closer -> poking -> prodding -> more bold, shoving + pushing as they realize the blacks won't do anything back - national attention, bl. students all over South start imitating -> sit-in movement in university towns (black universities) - movement of relatively privileged students ^ not only religion, gov, but now new students - more groups in the civil rights movement; is growing

Camelot
- the feeling that surrounded the Kennedy family; royalty/aristocracy(attempting to get; proto-aristocracy) - father of JFK was Joseph P. Kennedy, Irish Cath. of unbounded ambition - raised in MA where being Irish was an obstacle, went to Harvard, made $ in stock market, pulled out before the Crash, takes $ to CA, buys up lots of Hollywood, carries on affair w/ Hollywood lady (while wife in MA is tending to large family: 4 girls/4 boys) - ambitions; buys way into Dem. party, FDR dislikes b/c he's a scumbag, willing to do a lot to get more power/fame, but has to "repay" somehow, so gives him position with prestige but little power (so he can't screw anything up) -> ambassador to Br. - but JPK anti-Semetic, agreed with Hitler on a few things, //said this in public in Br//. -> infamy - infamy also added to by botched lobotomy of disabled daughter, Rosemary (done b/c Joseph feared she'd bring shame on the family) - w/ career ruined, pushed ambitions on kids -> 1st choice Joseph Jr., war comes, JPK says "Imma hide you, we'll get you polished at this time, keep you safe." Joseph Jr., surprisingly upright and decent young man (considering his father) says, "no, Imma fight." -> becomes pilot, bomber -> killed -> new kid has to take on JPK's ambitions - other 2 sons too young -> goes to John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a sneaky and clever boy, bright but a slimeball - dad gets him a job in diplomatic services, he gets in an affair w/ a woman who turns out to be a German agent - no big deal to him, but J. Edgar Hoover warns dad -> has to break it off - eventually finds himself commander on a warship, PT-109, 1943-43; one day boat sliced in two by Japanese destroyer, he swims miles hauling an Irish crewmember with his teeth -> bona fide war hero - plagarizes book about war, gets Pulitzer prize for it -__-; - not enough for dad; buys the senatorial election -> JFK senator from MA - marries well, w/ nice, rich, but not very special wife - 1960 election; Dem. not sure who to nom. so JFK, Repub. nom. Nixon -> Fear vs. Idealism - Idealism, JRK; young, charming, vivacious, "time for the US to fulfill its old promises," idealism not uncommon at the time - Fear, Nixon; anti-communism, Noxon having been around, "I know the commies, I've been fending them off" - televised debate; JFK looks good on TV, Nixon doesn't (JFK tanned, Nixon had been sick and refused makeup) -> debate -> people listening to radio, "Nixon won," people watching TV, "JFK won" - election, dead people in Chicago vote for JFK - fraud, but Nixon says to advisors + others, "to expose would throw country in turmoil, I'll suck it up like a man" - Greensboro sit-ins, MLK participates -> arrested; JFK advisors tell him to offer condolences -> he does -> support of bl. voters - JFK wins by narrow margin-> power; total preoccupation w/ foreign policy, wanting to show he's no young idiot - domestic issues little to him, but he'd find out that he'd be drawn in to civil issues... because of Core, and the Freedom Rides (and other stuff as well...)__

Freedom Rides
- after JFK's condolences to MLK, bl. civil rights activists interested in JFK, getting the gov. involved more -> plan by CORE, using a tactic used before with effectiveness - will do things that'll invoke violence, but will do nothing violent back - media/public backlash and a need for the gov. to enforce its own laws - May 4, 1961, group called the Freedom Riders board 2 buses going from Washington and heading south. Group was biracial, bigender, and plan was: to use the wrong buses at every stop. That's all. - 10 days in, Mother's day, MLK heard of them and praised them -> AL plainsclothes investigator boards bus (not exclusive buses, just normal route) -> gets to AL, attacked by angry mob trying to get into the bus to kill them, bus driver + unknowing passengers scared and confused, detective slams doors closed and, "get the hell outta here" -> out, but tired slashed; out of town but stuck. Bus driver bolts, mob throws burning stuff into buses and stop ppl. from getting out, detective points gun, "outta way," mob leaves but comes back after everyone's gotten out -> beating -> AL state troopers have to come to rescue them - second bus also beat, one old man to the point of never recovering - 2ns bus cont. into Birmingham, met by another mob... with a twist. Bull Connor has given the KKK 15 minutes before sending police in; FBI know about attack from informant, Fred Shuttlesworth, but do nothing; news/media there; Bull Connor's own priest tries to convince them to not attack, to no avail; 15 minutes of beating; Bull Connor, "it was Mother's day, all men off work" BS - somehow some get to safety of Fred Shuttleworth's house, hear that other bus people being turned out of the hospital back into the mobs -> need to help -> Fred calls on friends, "Deacons for Defense" - not totally non-violent - 8-car caravan piled w/ shotguns goes down, gets people out safely, drives back to Fred's house - in Japan, Tokyo, businesspeople trying to get investments in Birmingham (industrial center), Birmingham on TV... bad image, bad for business, businessppl realize this -> push for civil rights, though not for moral reasons - FR stuck in Birmingham, decide to fly rest of way to N.O.; having been followed by everyone on news, bl. college kids outraged at stopping of Freedom rides, leader "my kids want to help" -> students joining, getting beat up -> gov. tries to deter them by steering them onto wrong bus routes, kids ditch and head the right way on their own -> beat up; more fights in AL - Fed. gov. forced to step in; Freedom Rides + beatings happen all summer, but beatings less severe because of gov. watching. ^ progress in making the gov. more involved in the civil rights movement ^ gets civil right concerns back on the front page; real news

Bull Connor
- police commissioner of Birmingham, AL - been such forever (except short stint after found in motel w/ secretary, convicted of some sort of crime) - one who arrested Fred Shuttlesworth for vagrancy - let Freedom Riders be beaten for 15 minutes before sending in help - later, frustrated, moved on to dogs, hoses -> made racism look bad ^ ultimately a big help in the civil rights movement because he made obvious the brutality of white supremacy

March on Washington
- back in Birmingham, Fred being pushed by high school kids to let them participate -> "No; will be on your records, won't be able to get jobs" -> kids keep pushing, eventually he gives in - condemned by many, Robert Kennedy, MLK for allowing such; shrugs, "kids want it" -> lets loose - things look even worse now; kids being attacked by dogs, beaten, fire-hosed - Shuttlesworth sent to hospital after bad hosing -> allows businesspeople, MLK, Kennedy to step in -> "enough!" - MLK arranges end of demonstrations; Fred PO'd b/c he wanted to blow the whole thing sky-high - MLK rescues name for self (had been tarnished after incident w/ SNCC, failed civil rights attempt in MS) ^ seen as huge victory by lots in US, in world; MLK ready to go to Washington DC now -> speech - "I have a dream" speech, guarded by Malcom X people, audience bi-racial ^ very symbolic and monumental

Bay of Pigs
- real revolution in Cuba; Castro takes over - old dictator a real tyrant, so initially Castro met with praise, ticker-tape parades - then, shows commie colors; things like land redistrubution -> US withdraws help -> Soviets willing to help; Castro becomes dictator - CIA, wanting to try what they did in Guat again, decides to try and import a rev. group in - a plan Eisenhower scratched his head at, but JFK desperate to prove manhood -> agrees - Bay of Pigs, planned bombing @ time of battle -> hard to tell who or what or where; fly from Niceraugua, wrong time-zone -> an hour early -> warning to Cubans -> when real troops actually arrive, shit shot out of them -> fiasco + faliure ^ CIA failure, JFK looks like an idiot -> need to correct blasted image

Cuban Missile Crisis
- after failure Bay of Pigs, JFK needs image fix - hears of real threat by spy plane, looks like rockets in Cuba (actually worse than first though; had nukes!) - Kennedy announces on TV to public about it, and it being dealt with; went to bed not expecting to wake up - surprisingly, next 2 weeks or so, hushed plans and meetings and whatnot -> JFK refused to nuke Cuba, so they blockaded to prevent Soviets from helping; Russia points out that US has nukes in Turkey, near Russia like Cuba near US; Kennedy makes promise through secret channels, "I'll disassemble Turkey nukes AFTER this is done with." - Guy in charge in Russia (name spelling?) ponders, eventually withdraws -> sometime later, Turkey nukes disassembled, but agreement JFK made w/ Russia not known by general public -> Russia looks like a wuss; JFK's image improved ^ JFK decides, "this bluffing stuff going to be the death of me, enough is enough"

Ho Chi Mihn
- pre-existent rivalry of China vs. Vietnam; invasions, etc. - Fr. having dominated much of Vietnam for a while; resistance b/c of treatment, conditions on plantations/mines; controllable exploitable labor = natives; however, Vietnamese fear/hate Chinese more than French, so they suck it up, somewhat - WWII -> Fr. loses power, control -> Jap, controlling Indo-China area; leader "Win the Patriot" aka Ho Chi Mihn fights vs. Japanese -> makes him enemy of the enemy, so an ally; US worked w/ plus helped, liked Ho Chi Mihn, understand "he is the George Washington of his people" - unfortunately, also a communist - not a Russian or Chinese communist, just happens to be one. And communism secondary to nationalism - however, Americans so entrenched in the myth of monotheistic communism, can't understand this -> dislike Ho Chi Mihn - people working with him in WWII know him, understand him, suggest working w/ him after war; Ho Chi Mihn sends letter to Truman, "would like to work with you, separate from Chinese + other", Truman blows off even though pre-CIA saying they should knock him off (already on commie alert) - Fr. also want Vietnam back; no power, but leverage; Charles Degaul, "if you don't help us in Vietnam, we'll not let you work your reforms in Europe" (reforms being basically wiping out communism) -> no sense logically, but US somehow falls for it - Sept. 1945, Ho Chi Mihn declared independence, quoting from US Declaration of Independence... "Uh." - Fr. still want to kick him out, so he asks Truman for help -> refuses to even respond ^ Construction of Fictional Reality - monolithic communism and "the domino effect" - Fr. come back, but low-grade resistant -> higher-grade resistance - US takes on assumptions, "if we fail anywhere, rest of world will lose confidence in US pwer -> must not lose" - Bao Dai, "Playboy Emperor" - does nothing, really the Fr. running the show w/ US funding from Marshall plan, buying weapons - by 1950, Fr. failed badly, Ho Chi Mihn + others having gained back 2/3rds of Indo-China, by 1954 US doing most of funding, Fr. lost everything by a supposedly inpenetrable fortress, Dienbienphu - well, not so inpenetrable... - Fr. kicked out, Eisenhower unwilling to nuke Vietnam/Dienbienphu

Dienbienphu
- supposedly inpenetrable fortress the Fr. holed up in after losing everything else in Indo-China - in a valley surrounded by dense jungle - Ho Chi Mihn and gang haul artillery up, having slashed through the undergrowth -> bomb - was an airbase, so fairly important location

Geneva Accords
- peace treaty @ Geneva, Switzerland - Dulles not want to cooperate - division at 17th parallel in Vietnam, to be kept temporarily until things cleared up - not gonna work b/c Vietnam is just Vietnam - no north, south, just is one - no understanding of where any boundary is - temp. for 2 years, then vote + reunite - US not sign, tries to keep them separate

Ngo Dihn Diem
- head of S. Viet gov. - disliked, not very competent - only polit opponent to Ho Chi Mihn; US would have to cuckold votes or do something to make him win

Gulf of Tonkin (x2?!)
US fakes an attack on an American destroyer to justify attacking N. Vietnam

Freedom Summer
- spring 1964, civil rights attention in MS - aiming for voting rights - group COFO, Congress of Federal Organization or whatever, plus lots of other groups - wanted to refute idea that bl. people don't want to vote; had done so with fake election - use of privileged white kids, b/c "no-one cares enough about the blacks" - but if white kids get beat up, NEWS! - within 1st week, 3 CRA (civil rights activists) disappear... - gov. of MS claims it's a publicity stunt, FBI reluctantly starts search -> finds many bodies of lynched blacks in the process - later, location of body revealed by paid KKK member, many people implicated - sheriff of local county, KKK members, etc. - difficulty in getting people to vote b/c of threats - losing land, jobs, lives... - groups make own Dem. party, claim it's the legit one - as opposed to the current, all-white Dem party in MS (MS 50%+ bl.) - [unfinished]

"Black Power"

Fannie Lou Hamer
-sharecropper in James Eastland's cotton plantation. Heroine of freedom summer- when she registers to vote, her house gets shot up. she has to leave, but is beaten to a pulp eventually. Continues, inspiring people with gospel songs saying that God was on their side.

Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party

"War on Poverty"

end of Feb/beginning of March, demonstrations in Selma AB The sheriff there, Jim Clark, is a lot like Bull Connor during a demonstration, street lights go out and cops beat up protesters, some of them hide in cafes, cops follow them there, start beatingu p the family of deacon Jimmy Lee Jackson. Jackson jumps in to protect them and is shot.
 * Selma** 1965

Black Panthers
formed in Oakland, CA focus more on self defense than non-violent resistance (so do not mind violence in the name of self defense)

Lavender Panthers
The Lavender Panthers was a gay rights activist group in San Francisco during the early 1970s, led by the Reverend Ray Broshears. //The group was renowned for its ability to appear out of nowhere (or a large van), and promptly begin flailing ass on anyone who represented a threat to individuals, or the community at large. They also had a form of immunity. After all, if you’re uncomfortable enough with your masculinity to go around harassing random gay men on the street, you’re probably going to be unwilling to admit to the police that you just got your ass rolled on by The Lavender Panthers.//

Watts

Counter Intelligence Program, lead of CIA dirty tricks example of tactics: put a false story in a California newspaper saying that some black radicals gave away secrets --> other black radicals kill them, radicals start fighting between each other, just what CIA wants.
 * COINTELPRO**

Gulf of Tonkin
- LBJ needs to expand war to show he's not soft, to fit image, help in 1964 election - American destroyer off N. Vietnam (there to provoke) attacked, supposedly torpedoed (coula just been whales) - bogus, but -> - blown out of proportion, used as an excuse to go vs. N. Vietnam -> war, bombing esp. ^ contributes to LBJ winning election, starts real bombing of N.V.

Operation Rolling Thunder
- 8/64, carpet bombing of NViet - so bad, had to live n underground cities - named after some hymn or other ^ ?

Tet Offensive
- Tet = Vietnamese new year - during celebrations, viet cong attack SV, some actually make it into the American embassy before being killed - military disaster for Viet Cong, they gain no land and lose many people, BUT great blow to moral for Americans - trusted news anchor(?) Walter Cronkite, "I don't know what to tell you any more" - w/ news/TV channels limited, source for many -> uncertainties ^ blow to American moral regarding Vietnam war ^ causes LBJ to drop out of presidental election in March, 31 1968 (5 days later, MLK assassinated) -> great confusion and uncertainty towards what the future held

SDS
- Students for a Democratic Society - started with group of teachers offering late-night classes about what they know of the Vietnam war -> pop. b/c people really do want to know - starts spreading, even though they're "fringe" (radical, looked down upon) -> actual groups start popping up, ex. SDS ^ "the truth" and people wanting to know what's //really// going on in Vietnam

Port Huron Statement
- the guiding principals of SDS

Feminine Mystique
- Betty Friedan, resp. housewife - 1963, one day w/ other housewives, realize how empty their lives are: consumerism and resp. feminism - feminism movement (if that'd be the right word)

Roe vs. Wade
- we all know the drill; legalizes abortion across the board ^ part of the Sexual revolution; loss of consequences of "looseness"

AIM
- American Indian Movement ^ example of other expressions of liberation/protest; other movements

Hippies
- tended to come from resp. upper to upper-middle class families; know of the restrictions of respectability, but not so much about the difficulties of living as an actual "rough" - drugs, radicalism -> not part of "rough" culture, made them disliked by rough/resp. because made them look bad (wanted to be resp.) - entire idea of hippie quickly bandwagoned by businesses -> tie-dye t-shirt and etc. industry (lawlz)

Sirhan Sirhan

1968 Democratic National Convention

George Wallace

"Ballade of the Green Beret"
- by Staff Sergeant Barry Sandler (oddly enough, not a very honorable or patriotic man himself) - very serious, patriotic song - patriotism: dying for your country, fighting "for those oppressed" ^ @ time (1965-66), very popular - pro-war sentiment and still believing they could win in Vietnam

"Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag"
- by Country Joe and the Fish, 1967 - very sarcastic, jeeringly so; pokes fun at ways of thinking, dualism + consumerism - highlights who benefits and who doesn't, supposed hypocrasy of those fighting - alienates many, tells pf polarization between left and right, pro-war and anti-war ^ marks beginning of divide -> 2 polit group not able to even face one another

"Mah-ass" Factor
- Nixon's presidency has started, pulling troops out of Vietnam - still fighting, though; "slowly ending the war" BS - soldiers realize that they could just put off fighting, be able to stay safe and simply wait to pull out; disobey/frag(kill) commanding officers ^ Mah-ass = my ass on the line; in the minds of all young men, and secondarily w/ their families

Vietnamization
- Nixon, withdrawing of troops from Vietnam, but continued + worse bombing + such - bombing kept from public, withdrawl made very public - keeps bombing of NV in Cambodia very secret (even from Congress) - illusions of ending the war, being "peaceful and nice"

Spiro Agnew
- vice prez for Nixon - responding to actions of protesters, etc.: "ideological eunuchs" and "nattering nabobs of negativism" (not even his own words; speech-writer) - was kicked out for corruption before Nixon resigned

Cambodia
- previously, had already fought in Cambodia (on accident; no clear boundaries in wild jungle...) because N. Vietnamese were going through Cambodia to attack US in S. Vietnam - announced/publicized "Invasion" of Cambodia alerts people, inflames -> Kent State

Kent State
- protesting gets bad, burning of armory - young police(?) called in to restrain; after a few days, frustrated + exhausted -> open fire -> deaths -> campuses close, but still more incidents ^ continued + increasing polarization

My Lai
- massacre of Vietnam civilians b/c suspected of helping Viet Cong (honestly difficult to tell) - only stopped becuz of badass in a helicopter who left and was never heard of again - cover-up, not heard of until later, then -> investigation ^ moral disintegration

Augusto Pinochet
us established ruler of Chile (US didn't like people's choice marxist leader) war criminal in Spain, being tried in France too murders 3000+ political opponents over next 25 years.

bad acronym, Committee to Re-Elect President (Nixon) led by attorney general John Mitchell uses ex-CIA operatives to discredit democratic efforts in the election ridiculously "un-American"
 * CREEP**

__**Watergate** 6/17/72__ - 6 Cubans (bay of pigs type ppl who were paid off) and 1 ex-CIA member caught by a janitor stealing from the Democratic National Convention headquarters in DC. Also trying to install wiretaps to listen in and thwart dem. plans. - 6 days later, Nixon tells chief of staff Haleman to tell CIA to tell FBI to not investigate/pretend you don't know those Cubans --> hard to trace this order back to Nixon - when burglars are arrested, Nixon's lawyer John Dean keeps them silent with promises of presidential pardon and $$$ - Robert Woodward and __ Burnstein are 2 reporters who investigate this for real, though their jobs are on the line if they mess up. source= "Deep Throat", the man next in line behind J Edgar Hoover to run the CIA. He didn't get the job and was angry, so gave the reporters vague hints and directions to research. - In Feb, Senate votes 70/0 (30 people didn't vote) to investigate, though no guarantee of promptness or thoroughness - In April the reporters have so much dirt that Nixon has to fire lawyer John dean, who gets angry and implicated Nixon on a televised trial. - Another man on trial reveals that there is a voice recorder in the oval office (installed by Eisenhower or something), Senate demands the tapes. - Nixon says screw you. Supreme court backs Senate and finally gets tapes, though conveniently 18 minutes are missing from the day of Watergate. No one is really fooled. ^ Nixon resigns ^ Government looks bad -> distrust of government, politicians/politics

Energy Crisis
- US dependent on oil now; used to be a producer - 1973, two turning points - OPEC, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (founded 1960), raises price of oil from $3 a barrel to $12 -> higher profits, but hurts people - Yom Kippur War (Oct. 1973); US tries to stay out, but ends up backing Israel -> Arab countries, oil rate was 50-50 so they have control over now-oil dependent US, announces embargo -> economic problems, reactions - inflation and stagflation (stagnation); oil prices high and American cars all gas-guzzlers, so people buy foreign cars -> hurts American auto industry -> bailouts needed (first of, not really capitalism anymore, "too big to tank") - inspires environmental awareness (ex. Clean Air act, '70) ^ Ford looks bad, plus economy takes a bad turn

Iranian hostage crisis
- background: Shah placed in power by US, adjusts oil deals in favor, controls natives w/ help of CIA-trained SAVAK -> resented - people start mountain against him; two sides, communists (near Russia) and Islamic fundamentalists (rejecting immoral ways of Western culture, as it seems to have wrecked their lives) - revolt; US can't back commies, so back fundies, even though fundies hate both the US and the USSR - Kissinger and D. Rockerfeller (both hob-nobbers), know Shah, convince Carter to let the dying-of-cancer Shah into US to die in peace -> angers Iranians - in response, w/ no plan or demands or anything -> fundamentalists seize US Embassy, have 52 hostages (11/4/79) - 444 days, media plays up "hostage crisis"; have little number in the corner on the telly, counting the days since they were first seized -> inability to do anything (for anyone to do anything, really) makes Carter look bad -> Carter loses in election to Reagan - coincidentally, hostages released on day of Reagan's inauguration -> makes him look good ^ really undermines idea of American omnipotence